1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technique which permits prospective insurance buyers to obtain premium estimates from a premium trial-calculation system, a computer system, and a medium, particularly to an art to be effectively applied to a comparative estimate (trial calculation) for a plurality of companies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Even with recent advancements in computer networks like the Internet, it remains relatively difficult to obtain quotes for insurance products from multiple vendors that can be easily compared. For example, in the case of an insurance commodity (or insurance service) to which comparatively-standardized insurance condition can be applied such as automobile insurance, similar insurance commodities are provided from a plurality of companies. A user or consumer makes a purchase decision by comparing insurance coverage and premiums from various companies.
A user has conventionally obtained the information about coverage and premiums of insurance commodities from advertisements or direct business activities by insurance companies or insurance agents, many of whom are tied to a single insurance company. However, because of the advancement of information technology such as the Internet, consumers have been gradually able to obtain more and more information about insurance commodities. For example, the web sites of some insurance underwriters provide functions for performing trial calculation (estimation) of insurance commodities and their charges. Thus, a customer is able to know a premium corresponding to an insurance condition of the customer by accessing home pages of the underwriters.
However, at the web site of each company, it is possible to only calculate the premium for an insurance commodity provided by the underwriter who manages the web site. Therefore, to compare commodities of various companies, it is necessary to individually access the web site of each company.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of permitting a user to compare insurance commodities (insurance service offerings) of a plurality of companies by inputting conditions which effect the insurance premium a single time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide insurance commodity information and nearly real time quotes as directly supplied from a plurality of companies.
Another object of the present invention is to provide consumers with high quality insurance commodity information from multiple suppliers via a comparatively simple system.